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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM LXV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this psalm we are directed to give to God the glory of his power and
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goodness, which appear,
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I. In the kingdom of grace
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:1">ver. 1</A>),
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hearing prayer
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:2">ver. 2</A>),
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pardoning sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:3">ver. 3</A>),
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satisfying the souls of the people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:4">ver. 4</A>),
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protecting and supporting them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:5">ver. 5</A>.
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II. In the kingdom of Providence, fixing the mountains
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:6">ver. 6</A>),
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calming the sea
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:7">ver. 7</A>),
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preserving the regular succession of day and night
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:8">ver. 8</A>),
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and making the earth fruitful,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>.
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These are blessings we are all indebted to God for, and therefore we
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may easily accommodate this psalm to ourselves in singing it.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps65_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Praises of Zion; Motives for Devout.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician. A psalm <I>and</I> song of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the
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vow be performed.
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2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
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3 Iniquities prevail against me: <I>as for</I> our transgressions,
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thou shalt purge them away.
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4 Blessed <I>is the man whom</I> thou choosest, and causest to
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approach <I>unto thee, that</I> he may dwell in thy courts: we shall
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be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, <I>even</I> of thy holy
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temple.
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5 <I>By</I> terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O
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God of our salvation; <I>who art</I> the confidence of all the ends of
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the earth, and of them that are afar off <I>upon</I> the sea:
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The psalmist here has no particular concern of his own at the throne of
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grace, but begins with an address to God, as the master of an assembly
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and the mouth of a congregation; and observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. How he gives glory to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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1. By humble thankfulness: <I>Praise waiteth for thee, O God! in
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Zion,</I> waits till it arrives, that it may be received with
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thankfulness at its first approach. When God is coming towards us with
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his favours we must go forth to meet him with our praises, and wait
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till the day dawn. "Praise waits, with an entire satisfaction in thy
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holy will and dependence on thy mercy." When we stand ready in every
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thing to give thanks, then praise waits for God. "Praise waits thy
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acceptance" the <I>Levites</I> by night <I>stood in the house of the
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Lord,</I> ready to sing their songs of praise at the hour appointed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+134:1,2">Ps. cxxxiv. 1, 2</A>),
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and thus their praise waited for him. <I>Praise is silent unto thee</I>
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(so the word is), as wanting words to express the great goodness of
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God, and being struck with a silent admiration at it. As there are holy
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<I>groanings which cannot be uttered,</I> so there are holy adorings
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which cannot be uttered, and yet shall be accepted by him that
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<I>searches the heart and knows what is the mind of the spirit.</I> Our
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praise is silent, that the praises of the blessed angels, who excel in
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strength, may be heard. Let it not be told him that I speak, for if a
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man offer to <I>speak forth all God's praise surely he shall be
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swallowed up,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:20">Job xxxvii. 20</A>.
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<I>Before thee praise is reputed as silence</I> (so the Chaldee), so
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far exalted is God above all our blessing and praise. Praise is due to
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God from all the world, but it waits for him in Zion only, in his
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church, among his people. All his works praise him (they minister
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matter for praise), but only his saints bless him by actual adorations.
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The redeemed church sing their new song upon Mount Zion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+14:1,3">Rev. xiv. 1, 3</A>.
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In Zion was God's dwelling-place,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:2">Ps. lxxvi. 2</A>.
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Happy are those who dwell with him there, for they will be still
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praising him.
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2. By sincere faithfulness: <I>Unto thee shall the vow be
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performed,</I> that is, the sacrifice shall be offered up which was
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vowed. We shall not be accepted in our thanksgivings to God for the
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mercies we have received unless we make conscience of paying the vows
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which we made when we were in pursuit of the mercy; for better it is
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not to vow than to vow and not to pay.</P>
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<P>
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II. What he gives him glory for.</P>
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<P>
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1. For hearing prayer
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Praise waits for thee;</I> and why is it so ready?
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(1.) "Because thou art ready to grant our petitions. <I>O thou that
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hearest prayer!</I> thou canst answer every prayer, for thou art able
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to do for us more than we are able to ask or think
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:20">Eph. iii. 20</A>),
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and thou wilt answer every prayer of faith, either in kind or
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kindness." It is much for the glory of God's goodness, and the
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encouragement of ours, that he is a God hearing prayer, and has taken
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it among the titles of his honour to be so; and we are much wanting to
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ourselves if we do not take all occasions to give him his title.
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(2.) Because, for that reason, we are ready to run to him when we are
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in our straits. "<I>Therefore,</I> because thou art a God hearing
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prayer, <I>unto thee shall all flesh come;</I> justly does every man's
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praise wait for thee, because every man's prayer waits on thee when he
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is in want or distress, whatever he does at other times. Now only the
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seed of Israel come to thee, and the proselytes to their religion; but,
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when thy <I>house shall be called a house of prayer to all people,</I>
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then unto thee shall all flesh come, and be welcome,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:12,13">Rom. x. 12, 13</A>.
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To him let us come, and come boldly, because he is a God that hears
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prayer.</P>
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<P>
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2. For pardoning sin. In this <I>who is a God like unto him?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+7:18">Micah vii. 18</A>.
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By this he proclaims his name
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:7">Exod. xxxiv. 7</A>),
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and therefore, upon this account, praise waits for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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"Our sins reach to the heavens, <I>iniquities prevail against</I> us,
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and appear so numerous, so heinous, that when they are set in order
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before us we are full of confusion and ready to fall into despair. They
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prevail so against us that we cannot pretend to balance them with any
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righteousness of our own, so that when we appear before God our own
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consciences accuse us and we have no reply to make; and yet, <I>as for
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our transgressions, thou shalt,</I> of thy own free mercy and for the
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sake of a righteousness of thy own providing, <I>purge them away,</I>
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so that we shall not come into condemnation for them." Note, The
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greater our danger is by reason of sin the more cause we have to admire
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the power and riches of God's pardoning mercy, which can invalidate the
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threatening force of our manifold transgressions and our mighty
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sins.</P>
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<P>
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3. For the kind entertainment he gives to those that attend upon him
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and the comfort they have in communion with him. Iniquity must first be
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purged away
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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and then we are welcome to compass God's altars,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Those that come into communion with God shall certainly find true
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happiness and full satisfaction in that communion.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) They are blessed. Not only blessed is the nation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:12">Ps. xxxiii. 12</A>),
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but <I>blessed is the man,</I> the particular person, how mean soever,
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<I>whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may
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dwell in thy courts;</I> he is a happy man, for he has the surest token
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of the divine favour and the surest pledge and earnest of everlasting
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bliss. Observe here,
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[1.] What it is to come into communion with God, in order to this
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blessedness. <I>First,</I> It is to approach to him by laying hold on
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his covenant, setting our best affections upon him, and letting out our
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desires towards him; it is to converse with him as one we love and
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value. <I>Secondly,</I> It is to dwell in his courts, as the priests
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and Levites did, that were at home in God's house; it is to be constant
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in the exercises of religion, and apply ourselves closely to them as we
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do to that which is the business of our dwelling-place.
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[2.] How we come into communion with God, not recommended by any merit
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of our own, nor brought in by any management of our own, but by God's
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free choice: "<I>Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,</I> and so
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distinguishest from others who are left to themselves;" and it is by
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his effectual special grace pursuant to that choice; whom he chooses he
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causes to approach, not only invites them, but inclines and enables
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them, to draw nigh to him. He draws them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+6:44">John vi. 44</A>.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) They shall be satisfied. Here the psalmist changes the person,
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not, <I>He</I> shall be satisfied (the man whom thou choosest), but,
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<I>We</I> shall, which teaches us to apply the promises to ourselves
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and by an active faith to put our own names into them: <I>We shall be
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satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.</I>
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Note,
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[1.] God's holy temple is his house; there he dwells, where his
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ordinances are administered.
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[2.] God keeps a good house. There is abundance of goodness in his
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house, righteousness, grace, and all the comforts of the everlasting
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covenant; there is enough for all, enough for each; it is ready, always
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ready; and all on free cost, without money and without price.
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[3.] In those things there is that which is satisfying to a soul, and
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with which all gracious souls will be satisfied. Let them have the
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pleasure of communion with God, and that suffices them; they have
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enough, they desire no more.</P>
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<P>
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4. For the glorious operations of his power on their behalf
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of
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our salvation!</I> This may be understood of the rebukes which God in
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his providence sometimes gives to his own people; he often answers them
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by terrible things, for the awakening and quickening of them, but
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always in righteousness; he neither does them any wrong nor means them
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any hurt, for even then he is the God of their salvation. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:15">Isa. xlv. 15</A>.
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But it is rather to be understood of his judgments upon their enemies;
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God answers his people's prayers by the destructions made, for their
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sakes, among the heathen, and the recompence he renders to their proud
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oppressors, as a righteous God, the God to whom vengeance belongs, and
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as the God that protects and saves his people. By <I>wonderful</I>
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things (so some read it), things which are very surprising, and which
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we looked not for,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+64:3">Isa. lxiv. 3</A>.
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Or, "By things which strike an awe upon us thou wilt answer us." The
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holy freedom that we are admitted to in God's courts, and the nearness
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of our approach to him, must not at all abate our reverence and godly
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fear of him; for he is <I>terrible in his holy places.</I></P>
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<P>
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5. For the care he takes of all his people, however distressed, and
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whithersoever dispersed. He is <I>the confidence of all the ends of the
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earth</I> that is, of all the saints all the world over and not theirs
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only that were of the seed of Israel; for he is the God of the Gentiles
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as well as of the Jews, the confidence <I>of those that are afar
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off</I> from his holy temple and its courts, that dwell in the islands
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of the Gentiles, or that are in distress <I>upon the sea.</I> They
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trust in thee, and cry to thee, when they are at their wits' end,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:27,28">Ps. cvii. 27, 28</A>.
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By faith and prayer we may keep up our communion with God, and fetch in
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comfort from him, wherever we are, not only in the solemn assemblies of
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his people, but also afar off upon the sea.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps65_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps65_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Almighty Power of God; Indications of Divine Power and Goodness.</I></FONT></TD>
|
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; <I>being</I>
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girded with power:
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7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their
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waves, and the tumult of the people.
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8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy
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tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to
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rejoice.
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9 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly
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enrichest it with the river of God, <I>which</I> is full of water:
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thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
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10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest
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the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou
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blessest the springing thereof.
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11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop
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fatness.
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12 They drop <I>upon</I> the pastures of the wilderness: and the
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little hills rejoice on every side.
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13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are
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covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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That we may be the more affected with the wonderful condescensions of
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the God of grace, it is of use to observe his power and sovereignty as
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the God of nature, the riches and bounty of his providential
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kingdom.</P>
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<P>
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I. He establishes the earth and it abides,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:90">Ps. cxix. 90</A>.
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<I>By his</I> own <I>strength</I> he <I>setteth fast the mountains</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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did set them fast at first and still keeps them firm, though they are
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sometimes shaken by earthquakes.</P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR>
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<TD>------Feriuntque summos.
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<BR>Fulmina montes.
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<BR>
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<BR>The lightning blasts and loftiest hills.
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</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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Hence they are called <I>everlasting mountains,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+3:6">Hab. iii. 6</A>.
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Yet God's covenant with his people is said to stand more firmly than
|
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they,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:10">Isa. liv. 10</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He stills the sea, and it is quiet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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The sea in a storm makes a great noise, which adds to its threatening
|
|
terror; but, when God pleases, he commands silence among the waves and
|
|
billows, and lays them to sleep, turns the storm into a calm quickly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:29">Ps. cvii. 29</A>.
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And by this change in the sea, as well as by the former instance of the
|
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unchangeableness of the earth, it appears that he whose the sea and the
|
|
dry land are is girded with power. And by this our Lord Jesus gave a
|
|
proof of his divine power, that he <I>commanded the winds and waves,
|
|
and they obeyed him.</I> To this instance of the quieting of the sea he
|
|
adds, as a thing much of the same nature, that he stills <I>the tumult
|
|
of the people,</I> the common people. Nothing is more unruly and
|
|
disagreeable than the insurrections of the mob, the insults of the
|
|
rabble; yet even these God can pacify, in secret ways, which they
|
|
themselves are not aware of. Or it may be meant of the outrage of the
|
|
people that were enemies to Israel,
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:1">Ps. ii. 1</A>.
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|
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God has many ways to still them and will for ever silence their
|
|
tumults.</P>
|
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<P>
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III. He renews the morning and evening, and their revolution is
|
|
constant,
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
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|
|
This regular succession of day and night may be considered,
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|
1. As an instance of God's great power, and so it strikes an awe upon
|
|
all: <I>Those that dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth are afraid
|
|
at thy</I> signs or <I>tokens;</I> they are by them convinced that
|
|
there is a supreme deity, a sovereign monarch, before whom they ought
|
|
to fear and tremble; for in these things the invisible things of God
|
|
are clearly seen; and therefore they are said to be <I>set for
|
|
signs,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:14">Gen. i. 14</A>.
|
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|
|
Many of those that dwell in the remote and dark corners of the earth
|
|
were so afraid at these tokens that they were driven to worship them
|
|
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:19">Deut. iv. 19</A>),
|
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|
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not considering that they were God's tokens, undeniable proofs of his
|
|
power and godhead, and therefore they should have been led by them to
|
|
worship him.
|
|
|
|
2. As an instance of God's great goodness, and so it brings comfort to
|
|
all: <I>Thou makest the outgoings of the morning,</I> before the sun
|
|
rises, <I>and of the evening,</I> before the sun sets, <I>to
|
|
rejoice.</I> As it is God that scatters the light of the morning and
|
|
draws the curtains of the evening, so he does both in favour to man,
|
|
and makes both to rejoice, gives occasion to us to rejoice in both; so
|
|
that how contrary soever light and darkness are to each other, and how
|
|
inviolable soever the partition between them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:4">Gen. i. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
both are equally welcome to the world in their season. It is hard to
|
|
say which is more welcome to us, the light of the morning, which
|
|
befriends the business of the day, or the shadows of the evening, which
|
|
befriend the repose of the night. Does the watchman wait for the
|
|
morning? So does the hireling earnestly desire the shadow. Some
|
|
understand it of the morning and evening sacrifice, which good people
|
|
greatly rejoiced in and in which God was constantly honoured. Thou
|
|
makest them to <I>sing</I> (so the word is); for every morning and
|
|
every evening songs of praise were sung by the Levites; it was that
|
|
which the duty of every day required. We are to look upon our daily
|
|
worship, alone and with our families, to be both the most needful of
|
|
our daily occupations and the most delightful of our daily comforts;
|
|
and, if therein we keep up our communion with God, the outgoings both
|
|
of the morning and of the evening are thereby made truly to
|
|
rejoice.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He waters the earth and makes it fruitful. On this instance of
|
|
God's power and goodness he enlarges very much, the psalm being
|
|
probably penned upon occasion either of a more than ordinarily
|
|
plentiful harvest or of a seasonable rain after long drought. How much
|
|
the fruitfulness of this lower part of the creation depends upon the
|
|
influence of the upper is easy to observe; if the heavens be as brass,
|
|
the earth is as iron, which is a sensible intimation to a stupid world
|
|
that every good and perfect gift is from above, <I>omnia desuper--all
|
|
from above;</I> we must lift up our eyes above the hills, lift them up
|
|
to the heavens, where the original springs of all blessings are, out of
|
|
sight, and thither must our praises return, as the first-fruits of the
|
|
earth were in the heave-offerings lifted up towards heaven by way of
|
|
acknowledgment that thence they were derived. All God's blessings, even
|
|
spiritual ones, are expressed by his raining righteousness upon us. Now
|
|
observe how the common blessing of rain from heaven and fruitful
|
|
seasons is here described.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How much there is in it of the power and goodness of God, which is
|
|
here set forth by a great variety of lively expressions.
|
|
|
|
(1.) God that made the earth hereby visits it, sends to it, gives proof
|
|
of his care of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a visit in mercy, which the inhabitants of the earth ought to
|
|
return in praises.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God, that made it dry land, hereby waters it, in order to its
|
|
fruitfulness. Though the productions of the earth flourished before God
|
|
had caused it to rain, yet even then there was a mist which answered
|
|
the intention, and <I>watered the whole face of the ground,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+2:5,6">Gen. ii. 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our hearts are dry and barren unless God himself be as the dew to us
|
|
and water us; and the plants of his own planting he will water and make
|
|
them to increase.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Rain is <I>the river of God, which is full of water;</I> the
|
|
clouds are the springs of this river, which do not flow at random, but
|
|
in the channel which God cuts out for it. The showers of rain, as the
|
|
rivers of water, he turns which way soever he pleases.
|
|
|
|
(4.) This river of God enriches the earth, which without it would
|
|
quickly be a poor thing. The riches of the earth, which are produced
|
|
out of its surface, are abundantly more useful and serviceable to man
|
|
than those which are hidden in its bowels; we might live well enough
|
|
without silver and gold, but not without corn and grass.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How much benefit is derived from it to the earth and to man upon it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) To the earth itself. The rain in season gives it a new face;
|
|
nothing is more reviving, more refreshing, than the <I>rain upon the
|
|
new-mown grass,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:6">Ps. lxxii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Even <I>the ridges</I> of the earth, off which the rain seems to slide,
|
|
are watered <I>abundantly,</I> for they drink in the rain which comes
|
|
often upon them; <I>the furrows</I> of it, which are turned up by the
|
|
plough, in order to the seedness, are settled by the rain and made fit
|
|
to receive the seed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>);
|
|
|
|
they are settled by being made soft. That which makes the soil of the
|
|
heart tender settles it; for the heart is established with that grace.
|
|
Thus the springing of the year is blessed; and if the spring, that
|
|
first quarter of the year, be blessed, that is an earnest of a blessing
|
|
upon the whole year, which God is therefore said to <I>crown with his
|
|
goodness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
to compass it on every side as the head is compassed with a crown, and
|
|
to complete the comforts of it as the end of a thing is said to crown
|
|
it. And his paths are said to <I>drop fatness;</I> for whatever fatness
|
|
there is in the earth, which impregnates its productions, it comes from
|
|
the out-goings of the divine goodness. Wherever God goes he leaves the
|
|
tokens of his mercy behind him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:13,14">Joel ii. 13, 14</A>)
|
|
|
|
and makes his path thus to shine after him. These communications of
|
|
God's goodness to this lower world are very extensive and diffusive
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness,</I> and not merely
|
|
upon the pastures of the inhabited land. The deserts, which man takes
|
|
no care of and receives no profit from, are under the care of the
|
|
divine Providence, and the profits of them redound to the glory of God,
|
|
as the great benefactor of the whole creation, though not immediately
|
|
to the benefit of man; and we ought to be thankful not only for that
|
|
which serves us, but for that which serves any part of the creation,
|
|
because thereby it turns to the honour of the Creator. The wilderness,
|
|
which makes not such returns as the cultivated grounds do, receives as
|
|
much of the rain of heaven as the most fruitful soil; for God does good
|
|
to the evil and unthankful. So extensive are the gifts of God's bounty
|
|
that in them the hills, <I>the little hills, rejoice on every side,</I>
|
|
even the north side, that lies most from the sun. Hills are not above
|
|
the need of God's providence; little hills are not below the cognizance
|
|
of it. But as, when he pleases, he can make them tremble
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+114:6">Ps. cxiv. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
so when he pleases he can make them rejoice.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To man upon the earth. God, by providing rain for the earth,
|
|
prepares corn for man,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>As for the earth, out of it comes bread</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:5">Job xxviii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
for out of it comes corn; but every grain of corn that comes out of it
|
|
God himself prepared; and therefore he provides rain for the earth,
|
|
that thereby he may prepare corn for man, under whose feet he has put
|
|
the rest of the creatures and for whose use he has fitted them. When we
|
|
consider that the yearly produce of the corn is not only an operation
|
|
of the same power that raises the dead, but an instance of that power
|
|
not much unlike it (as appears by that of our Saviour,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:24">John xii. 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that the constant benefit we have from it is an instance of that
|
|
goodness which endures for ever, we shall have reason to think that it
|
|
is no less than a God that prepares corn for us. Corn and cattle are
|
|
the two staple commodities with which the husbandman, who deals
|
|
immediately in the fruits of the earth, is enriched; and both are owing
|
|
to the divine goodness in watering the earth,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
To this it is owing that the pastures are clothed with flocks,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
So well stocked are the pastures that they seem to be covered over with
|
|
the cattle that are laid in them, and yet the pasture not overcharged;
|
|
so well fed are the cattle that they are the ornament and the glory of
|
|
the pastures in which they are fed. The valleys are so fruitful that
|
|
they seem to be <I>covered over with corn,</I> in the time of harvest.
|
|
The lowest parts of the earth are commonly the most fruitful, and one
|
|
acre of the humble valleys is worth five of the lofty mountains. But
|
|
both corn-ground and pasture-ground, answering the end of their
|
|
creation, are said to <I>shout for joy and sin,</I> because they are
|
|
serviceable to the honour of God and the comfort of man, and because
|
|
they furnish us with matter for joy and praise: as there is no earthly
|
|
joy above the joy of harvest, so there was none of the feasts of the
|
|
Lord, among the Jews, solemnized with greater expressions of
|
|
thankfulness than the <I>feast of in-gathering at the end of the
|
|
year,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:16">Exod. xxiii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let all these common gifts of the divine bounty, which we yearly and
|
|
daily partake of, increase our love to God as the best of beings, and
|
|
engage us to glorify him with our bodies, which he thus provides so
|
|
well for.</P>
|
|
|
|
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